Demon Birth

A demon could have been born? While Renold finished pulling everything up, I stepped around to stop Denica from walking away. She treated what she said as if it was something casual, but she had to know that statement left me confused. “What are you talking about a demon being born? What am I missing?” I thought I knew everything about the general functions of the world at this point, but there was something critical still.

She motioned to everyone for the exit. “I’ll explain while we walk. Don’t want to be lingering over long.” There was probably that, but she also needed a real doctor to fix her up. Derik might have helped her in whatever way he could, but I doubted it was more than a patch job. I looked back to see Renold dragging the guardian monster behind him. ‘Damn, everyone’s got crazy strength. If I put points into Strength, could I do that?’

Everyone shuffled into the cave tunnel once more. The mission was a technical failure since we never found the demon, just what I would assume was their handiwork. In the grand scheme, it was a success. There was just a demon causing trouble from the shadows, probably not happy that we ruined one of their plans.

Denica groaned a little quietly to herself, but standing next to her I could hear how much her body had to be troubling her. “A question first, how much do you know about how things work with personal possessions?”

“I know that with enough time and care that they grow to develop new capabilities and even souls of their own. So you pass them down in the family to keep them developing.”

“That’s only the half of it, the positive side of things.” It did sound positive, but it also sounded like a large problem as with Eri’Sol. It locked children into a life not of their choosing. And clearly people made a choice to do something different sometimes. Even her family couldn’t have always been weaponsmiths. Someone had to rock the boat.

Denica pointed back to Renold. “That abandoned gear from those dead, depending on how long they were held in the family or if they were in the possession of a hero, might be developing a soul. Given the age and decay, the truth is probably not, but we can’t risk it if it's on the edge.”

She then looked back at me. “A tool or weapon that's broken or tossed away, does it have feelings about being discarded?” I held quiet, figuring that she would just keep going with her example. There was an insistence in her eyes to engage with her.

“If they’re an inanimate object with no souls, then no.”

“And if they had a soul just like you or I? What then?”

I suddenly started to get a troubled feeling in my stomach as I could see the path that she was laying down for me. So many pieces lined up for me now that it was almost frightening. I was such an idiot. But I didn’t know. I didn’t understand. “You’re telling me demons are personal possessions that have gained a soul, but at some point their owner died or abandoned them and that left them with negative emotions?”

“That’s the size of it. Love something long enough, hate can grow to be a powerful emotion in its absence. It is why caring for our belongings is important and why we have to treat that which has been abandoned with the respect it is due so that it can return in peace.”

I looked down at my gear pondering it. It hadn’t been mine for long, but there was that mastery bar that I saw for my gear. Did that represent my progression of my gear gaining a soul? “If you haven’t had something long is that risk still there?”

“No, but out of respect we treat all in the same way when we Send them. Heroes advance at a greatly accelerated rate compared to us. So it’ll be more important to follow procedure with anything of yours.”

“Thanks, I’m glad I know now. How many times have heroes not known this and created demons?”

“More than a few I’m certain. We take it for granted, but not everyone explains everything before it’s too late.”

I nodded left to silent contemplation as we returned to town. Little else was said, the new revelation about demons gave me a lot to think about. It wasn’t what I pictured a demon to be. What did a soul possessing belonging look like when it became a demon? This gave a lot of answers, but it left me with some more questions, but far less pressing ones.

Back at the Markets, Miss Calina met us in the hall along with a few others. I wasn’t sure if the massive haul or our mission had gotten out. But we certainly had eyes on us. Though she had a really annoyed look with us carrying such a giant monster. It wasn’t a good sign for a recon.

Her arms crossed, she looked over to Denica. “What part of scouting wasn’t I clear about?”

“I believe it was the part about the demon.”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes with you hauling something that looks like a Theric through the main square.”

“Demon left their pet behind. We were forced into the battle, but no signs of the demon. We found the source of the curse and stopped its projection.”

She braced her head with her hand with the news. A sigh came out as she shook her head. “I’ll consider that a mission complete, but we still have an unidentified demon strolling the countryside. I’m going to have to revise the report I’m sending to the capital.” She motioned to a few standing around to take the Theric away from Renold. The doctor came up to start tending to everyone.

Derik had patched me up already, that I stepped away for everyone else. I sat down and took a rest. Though it wasn’t long before I was joined by Renold. I thought he was planning to discuss something with Miss Calina or the attendant like I had seen him do work for Denica before. But he sat down next to me.

He tilted a little to look over at me. “Just wanted to pass along some advice.” I gave him a questioning look not knowing where this was going. “I don’t know your whole story, but I’ve seen enough to have a general picture. So I get it. I do. But you also need to stop holding yourself back. Not everyone you meet will leave.”

Almost immediately, he soured my mood. This wasn’t something that I wanted to discuss. I closed my eyes trying to measure out my emotions that rested just beneath the surface. It was a struggle as I spoke. “Respectfully, you don’t. You aren’t the first person that’s tried this advice. You won’t be last. And just like them, the only consistency will be that they always leave.”

Renold didn’t seem bothered by my prickly remarks. I guess he was more stubborn. “From what you said, your whole life. That’s a lot of time to reinforce a negative aspect of people.”

“Yes, I’m aware. So trust me that I know the nature of people and how selfish they are.”

“And just like you had a whole life to tell you everyone is going to abandon you, there is going to be someone out there that won’t.”

“I haven’t found them yet.”

He leaned forward with a bit of a smirk. “So you accept that possibility. Perhaps, all hope isn’t lost on you yet.”

I gave him a heavy shrug. “Statistically, I understand I should run into someone eventually.”

“Then don’t close yourself off until you know.”

A deep sigh escaped. That had been something I gave up years ago. I leaned back with the step pressing into my back some. “Try saying that after you’ve been disappointed, abandoned and exposed repeatedly.”

“It’s not enjoyable and it hurts. But if you’re always closed, you’re going to miss a good person because you’ve pushed them away. Don’t make cracking your shell a trial to find a friend.” He tapped me on the shoulder and stood up to turn back towards the desk. Perhaps he did have some business to manage. But he stopped short of leaving. “Just think about it at least. Unless you plan on dying soon, you’ll be for a while. Would be a shame to see our world alone.”